A Sicilian Pleasantville

Eisenhower's America exists and I found it in Hull, Cohasset and Hingham, MA. This is a place of serenity, security and the most beautiful (as well as expensive) seaside homes in the state. It's flawless like Pleasantville but not nearly as conservative with names like Grieco, DiVito, Meschino and Ciccariello running the show. But you won't find gambling, prostitution, loansharking or bootlegging here, a generation of Sicilians keep this place nice, tidy and welcoming to visitors.

While videotaping Nantasket Beach in Hull, Massachusetts, a local offered to escort me to better parts of the peninsula for scenic shots. I took him up on it and scored a rare shot of the summer home once owned by the Kennedy patriarch including the eldest, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, who was born here in 1915. Other locals were just as magnanimous. The town Magistrate and a D.A. invited me to join them for coffee and bagels at a corner cafe in Higham, a Radio D.J. at WBUR (NPR affiliate) chatted about the history of Paragon Park and the Manager at The Estates Condos spent the afternoon helping me film his property. I was surprised not to hear the "Lingua Franca" spoken but maybe they save that for the North End neighborhood in Boston, a place I'm off to next!